This text focuses on new results in molecular motors, self-assembly, and single-molecule manipulation that have revolutionized the field in recent years. Now in paperback, this updated edition has new end-of-chapter problems giving fresh options for assignments and exams; and an updated Chapter on Enzymes and Molecular Machines.

PART I: MYSTERIES, METAPHORS, MODELS
What the Ancients Knew
What's Inside Cells
PART II: DIFFUSION, DISSIPATION, DRIVE
The Molecular Dance
Random Walks, Friction, and Diffusion
Life in the Slow Lane: The Low Reynolds-Number World
Entropy, Temperature, and Free Energy
Entropic Forces at Work
Chemical Forces and Self-Assembly
PART III: MOLECULES, MACHINES, MECHANISMS
Cooperative Transitions in Macromolecules
Enzymes and Molecular Machines
Machines in Membranes
Nerve Impulses
Global List of Symbols and Units
Numerical Values
Index

PHILIP NELSON is Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He received his A.B. from Princeton University (1980) and Ph.D. from Harvard University (1984). Professor Nelson serves on the Biophysical Society's Education Committee; he received Penn's highest teaching award in 2001, in part for creating the course that formed the basis for this book.